Prom 36Gemma New conducts Mendelssohn’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

Part of the BBC Proms.In the summer of 1826 Felix Mendelssohn stumbled upon a German translation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream made by August Wilhelm Schlegel. Spellbound, the 17-year-old composer wrote an orchestral overture for the play and, another 17 years later, augmented it with yet more scene-setting music – the most enchanting and characterful he would write. Gemma New joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s musical retelling of Shakespeare’s story – performed with readings from the play for dramatic context – after equally colourful musical storytelling from forgotten French late-Romantic composer Mel Bonis and the heavenly sounds of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. There will be an interval.